Musings

The groundhog really wasn't playing when he called for more winter.

We were hoping he was.

After the blizzard of 2017 unleashed it's wrath on the Northeast, we're still feeling some residual cabin fever as they continue to clean up the aftermath. While we're at home cleaning up the war zone left behind after the kids were home from school for several days in a row, we're all hoping this is the last of it.

It's that time of year again!

Spring is the season for No Child Wet Behind and we're kicking off a successful 2017 with a night of fun for a great cause.

The No Child Wet Behind team is excited to gather together at the Levity Live Comedy Club in Nyack, New York on March 24th. The comedy club is conveniently located in the Palisades Center and the doors to the event open at 9:00pm with the show starting around 9:30pm.

All adults are welcome to this event so don't wait to make your table reservations before it's too late. If you and your friends are in search of a night out that isn't the same old thing, the...Read more

The term "due date" is short for ESTIMATED DUE DATE.

Some mothers go into labor a day or even a week early, while others are left watching the clock, awaiting the moment when their baby decides to show up to the party.

It's been a long, long pregnancy and you've finally had enough.

You may begin thinking...

"I have passed my due date, now WHERE IS THIS BABY?!"

Going past your due date is actually normal. It's not unusual to exceed 40+ weeks, however risks do increase in post term deliveries.

Not to mention a mom is just plain uncomfortable at the end of her pregnancy.

What are the risks involved with post term delivery?

Once your baby reaches full term they have several increased risks that mostly pertain to their size. At 40 weeks, the baby is huge and there's not much room for them to wiggle around. Despite the limited space and constriction, many mother's can confirm that baby wont stop trying to make moves through their last day in utero!

Your judgmental, self-righteous comments will no longer impact us in a negative way.

They will no longer make us question ourselves, our abilities or our value.

As little girls, you tormented us in school in front of our peers. You were deliberate about undermining us and embarrassing us any time you had the opportunity.

We worked hard to avoid you because we hoped to escape the shame and embarrassment you worked to cause us. You needed an audience to laugh with you and join in on mocking us, to make you feel strong and you found it in other mean girls.

As adult women, you have new methods.

You now have social media and it makes perfect sense that you would utilize it in your mean girl ways. Other mean girls rally with you when you seek out sensitivities in other women and launch your passive aggressive attacks.

While you post about sisterhood, camaraderie and empowerment, your actions show your desire to disempower women who have thoughts or beliefs that differ from yours.

You see, we don’t need you.

We thought we did.

We thought if you liked us, we would somehow be smarter, prettier and more successful but it turns out that you not liking us, somehow made you feel prettier, smarter and more successful.

We are free thinkers and we do things differently than you do. We make our own rules and we are empowered by...Read more

Most teenaged girls can say (but won’t) that they have been in a situation where they were begged by a teenaged boy to sneak into the bathroom and snap him a quick picture.

I know I have! This is how it goes....

You're siting in your room, alone, and you’re bored. It's 10:30 at night, and the boy you think is "SO HOT" texts you. You can’t believe it. You smile, your eyes light up and your hands get a little sweaty.

"Heyyy"

OMG! He put 3 y's! He's definitely interested!*

You send a Heyyy (with 3 y's of course) back to him.

He asks what's up, you chat, send a couple of emojis, and then he hits you with it.

"You should send me a pic"

You laugh it off and say no. You try and change the subject, and then he pulls out the…

"babe please" card.

As a teen girl you automatically think he likes you because he called you babe! Oh, how he makes you melt with the word babe.

But it's bullshit!

He doesn't like you, he likes your boobs!

That's where the confusion comes in! The attention that girls are seeking is right there. It is physically in the palms of your hands. But it is all wrong. It feels wrong and you know it’s wrong, but you don’t want him to stop texting you. It’s the wrong kind of attention and you know it but somehow… you still don’t want it to stop!

Body image is a very important thing to young girls. We are constantly thinking…

The secret to happiness is to not expect too much. The secret to success is to expect it all…

So what do you do with that information?

I struggle with it…

What if you want to be happy AND successful? What if being successful is one of the things that makes you happy?

The problem is in the expectation part. Dream, fantasize, imagine... BUT DON'T EXPECT. SHEESH...

ex·pec·ta·tion

ˌekspekˈtāSHən/

noun

noun: expectation; plural noun: expectations

1. a strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future.

Right??? When you look at the definition, you see the problem!

Something develops in our minds that we believe will make us happy.

We hope that it happens because imagining that it will, brings us contentment and peace. If/when it doesn’t, we are unhappy.

Why?

Because we wanted it to happen, or EXPECTED it to. We are disappointed and need to process this newly found result. We weren’t prepared for this not to happen and it can really knock us on our ass.

We seek support. We join a group of other people experiencing the same loss. We write, we pray, we seek counsel etc. We address it in whatever way we believe will help us and eventually (hopefully) we move forward. We let go and embrace our lives...Read more

I give it all. I open myself up. I expose myself! I share in a way many do not consider.

I guess it’s like public nudity. To the person doing it, it’s normal. Others either think it’s cool and do it too, or it makes them completely uncomfortable and they get as far away from it as humanly possible.

I “un-zip” because living on the surface, is a giant waste of time to me.

Dialogues like… “Hey, how are you? Good. You? How are the kids? Great…. I saw you got a new mini van, how nice. Blah, blah, blah…. No one gives a shit about that stuff!” bore me and the fact that they are “obligatory” is aggravating to me.

So… I engage. I share of myself (the good and the bad, what has worked for me and what hasn’t, my feelings of pride and my “chump” feelings) and sometimes, just sometimes the other person breaks down their walls and gives a little back and I am grateful.

I “un-zip” with passion and I do it with enthusiasm. Sometimes, my willingness to do it, encourages the other person to open up, maybe dig a little deeper and share their thoughts and desires. To me, that feels good. I feel like it counts. One gives, one takes. The other gives, the other takes. That must be what they mean when they say, “sharing”. It feels like sharing.

But, when I give like that and I take like that, I allow myself to believe that the relationship means something...Read more

If you put your mind to something, you can achieve it. It’s that simple. It may not be perfect, but if you believe it’s possible, it is.

I’ve been really struggling with my depression for a good six weeks. I haven’t been exercising or talking to my friends and family.

Those are the tell tale signs that I’m in the depression pit.

All I’ve been doing is working. Working, working, working. It’s been my escape, which is a productive escape, but an escape nonetheless.

I’m hiding. I’m hiding from the truth…

The truth is, I suffer from depression, and I never know when it’s going to rear its ugly head.

I signed up a year ago to run the Westchester ½ marathon, because when I ran it last year, I had a great time. In the back of my mind for the whole year, I’ve been thinking oh I have that ½ marathon in October.

Then depression hit like a ton of bricks.

Out of nowhere. I didn’t run. I didn’t do much of any exercise for the 6 weeks leading up to the race. I was looking for an excuse as to why I couldn’t run this race. I thought about deferring it to next year, I thought about skipping it. I thought about walking it. I thought about taking the easy way out.

Instead, I woke up the morning of the race at 7am. I got up and reluctantly drove to White Plains by myself to pick up my race number and to run alone. I thought to myself,...Read more

Northeast Doulas

Northeast Doulas is proud to provide families in the Greenwich, Fairfield, Westchester, NYC areas (and beyond) with the best trained most experienced doulas available.

Clients of Northeast Doulas enjoy the benefits that our professional and compassionate doulas bring to them in both labor and on the postpartum side. The staff of Northeast Doulas offers labor support in the birthplace of your choice (hospital or home), and postpartum support from 4 - 24 hours per day.